Sister, Sister
by Logray Vadisi
Summary: What happens when there is something important that Ranma forgot... or is that someBODY? And how does the NekoKen fit in to all this?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- Somebody much better than me owns Ranma. I own nothing but Hikari and a block of moldy cheese. Oh, wait. I ate the cheese... I was hungry, and it was really good on Ritz crackers. Guess that means I only own Hikari. Unless Ranma finds out, then I'm mud unless I can convince him otherwise...

Sister, Sister

It was the early hours of the morning, and Ranma was caught in the throes of a bad dream. In this dream, he was again getting thrown into the pit with the cats…

"Oh, no, the cats. Not the cats again. " Images of the deep dark pit filled Chibi-Ranma with fear.

"No, daddy, not again. " He told his father just as his father picked him up, along with something else, and threw them both in the pit.

"We don't want to go back in there again… " Ranma is standing between his father and a small shivering form on the ground.

"Why do you keep throwing us in there, daddy?" Ranma said, as yet again, he is thrown into the pit with the other form.

"Wait a minute," Ranma thought, as he woke from the dream. "We? Us?"

Ranma lay there for a while, trying to remember what it was he had seen in the pit this time that seemed different than the last times he had had this dream. It wasn't the pit, since the pit was always the same. It wasn't the c-c-c-cats, since they always seemed to change in the dreams anyway.

Then one image from his dream hit him. This time, he wasn't alone. Oyaji, had been outside the pit, not in it with him. Someone small, with long brown hair so light as to almost be red, and bright blue eyes, like his. Someone's eyes who were just as filled with fear as he imagined his own to be.

He spent most of the rest of the night trying to remember who this could be, or if it was just a dream, but he could not shake the feeling that this was not only a real person, but someone he felt he knew very well.

Meanwhile, in a room whose silence was only disturbed by the steady beeping of a heart monitor, a single blue eye darted open and a small panic-filled voice rang out. "Rrrranma?" The room was soon filled with the sound of a young girl crying, alone and utterly terrified.

Over the next week, the dream repeated itself every night, always leaving Ranma wondering why his dream changed now, and who the young girl could be. It was also wearing on him. If he was lucky, he would get a few hours of sleep each night before the dream popped up. As a result, he spent most of the day in school trying to remember the dream, and his afternoons in the usual fights with his various suitors and rivals, only to get malleted into the ceiling or through the floor in the evenings and spend the night again with the same dream. His temper soon came to a head with a phone call he would never forget.

That Saturday evening found Ranma again in the dojo, going through Kata after Kata and trying to remember the girl from his dream. There was a sense of familiarity about her, but after 10 years and the horror of the neko-ken, his memories of his early childhood were mostly gone. At first, he thought it was Ukyo, but the eyes were wrong, and he felt he knew this girl better than that. Akane yelling from the house broke his ruminations about the girl. "Hey, Ranma, you have a phone call!" Instead of answering, he simply walked inside to the phone.

"Hello? This is Ranma." He spoke into the phone.

"Hello, Ranma, this is Doctor Tofu."

"Hi, what's up, Doc?" Ranma replied with a smile.

"Glad to see you are in a good mood today, because I have some news for you. You see, I found someone that may be of interest to you."

"Huh?"

"Ranma, do you know anyone by the name of Hikari?"

At the mention of the name, Ranma had an immediate image of a young girl flash through his mind, and immediately recognized the image as the girl from his dreams. Ranma dropped the phone in shock as the name echoed through his head. "Hi-chan..." With the name came other images... Images of Chibi-Ranma and a small brown-haired girl playing together... Images of that same girl running after Ranma and Genma as they left on their training trip. Images of Genma stopping long enough for her to catch up and telling her to go home. Later images of the same girl training with Chibi-Ranma because Genma refused to train Hikari.

Ranma's memories of the pit were foremost in his mind as he remembered the last time he saw his sister. She was lying on her side, curled into a fetal position and holding her badly bleeding face. The look of fear on her face, as well as the presence of the blood flowing through her fingers, was enough to raise a feeling that Chibi-Ranma had never felt before, but that Ranma knew well. The next few seconds of his memories played out like his dreams, complete with Genma towering over the both of them, then picking them both up and dropping them into a dark place, both physically and mentally.

As the memories continued to burst over him, he found himself remembering being thrown repeatedly into the pit with his sister, each time coming out wanting it to stop, not for himself, but for Hikari. Remembering the pit brought on, not the normal fear of cats, but anger at a level Ranma had seldom felt. That anger was directed towards the one who brought his sister such pain, and Ranma would make sure he paid for it. As he decided this, he felt an answering yowl from deep inside his mind as the walls he had carefully constructed to hold back the neko-ken were dropped. They were both agreed. It was time to punish the panda-man.

A loud growl rang through the hallway as Ranma snapped out of his memories and flexed his fingers a few times. In a deep growl that seemed to vibrate from the foundations of the house, Ranma told Tofu to bring bandages, then hung up the phone. Then there was complete silence as his hands clenched into fists and four claws, glowing red from the rage supporting them, popped into existence an inch from each knuckle of both hands, and spreading to a length of nearly 10 inches.

It took a few minutes for Ranma to locate Genma, but this was only because he was slowly and silently stalking through the house, hunched over as he was, with a set of red glowing claws coming from each hand. Genma, being busy playing go with Soun in the back yard, didn't notice the slow approach of his son, which was hidden from Soun's sight by the fact that Ranma was hunched over and, ironically enough, by Genma's girth. Genma's first clue of his son's presence was the deep animalistic growl that echoed from seemingly all around him. His next, and more painful, clue was the presence of eight deep slashes in an x pattern across his back, flaying the skin almost to the bone. The only thing that saved him from permanently losing his ability to walk, and quite possibly his life, was the extra weight he had built up in his training.

A moment later finds Genma being held up by the massive amount of rapid slashes and blows being rained on his body by a red fury named Ranma. Within a minute, Genma was embedded up-side-down in the wall with his limbs all twisted in the wrong directions. He was also covered from head to toe in bruises, cuts, and lacerations. Ranma was holding him in place by his neck, with his hands at shoulder height. This is when Akane and Nabiki came out of the house, just in time to hear Ranma growl out, "Talk, panda. Now."

At first, Genma looked to be passed out, but a deep growl caused Genma to open his eyes. "What do you want to know, boy?" Genma mumbled out through several broken teeth.

In a voice deeper than before, Ranma ground out, "I want to know what happened to my sisterrr after you so carrrelessly tossed us back into that pit with the cats, and I want to know NOW!" The final word was punctuated by Ranma bringing his claws within a quarter of an inch of the older martial artist's throat.

Genma's eyes went wide as he tried to come up with any lie to save his own skin. But looking in Ranma's eyes, he knew that lying would only make the boy madder and risk his cowardly neck, so he decided the truth would suffice this once. "I dropped that worthless screaming brat off at the local clinic, since she couldn't learn the neko-ken and wouldn't stop crying from her little cut. Her crying was getting annoying, and since I had a bad hangover I decided to get rid… of… her..." He knew instantly that this was the wrong thing to say as Ranma's eyes flared red to match his claws and Ranma drew back his arm to end the life of the worthless panda-man.

Doctor Tofu's calm voice cut through Ranma's rage. "I think you should stop beating on your father so I can have a look at him, and while I'm at it, Ranma, I'll tell you what I learned about your sister from the doctor that contacted me yesterday. You see, Ranma, I got a call from Nerima General hospital since I am listed in your records as your family doctor. Seems that doctor was looking for the family of one Hikari Saotome, since she awoke from a coma about a week ago. The doctors there were confused because she was acting like a cat, but able to communicate her name, and a desire to see her brother. She said his name Ranma..."

As Tofu said this, he walked over to the wall and none-too-gently pulled Genma from the wall and lay him out on the ground. "Would you mind helping me set these limbs, Ranma, since you were the one that broke them?" Tofu looked up to see Ranma was gone from the backyard, leaving only Akane present, and Nabiki just walking back into the yard. "I think he took off as soon as you said where she was," Akane said as she walked forward to help.

-A few moments earlier-

When Doctor Tofu mentioned that Hikari was awake and where she was, Nabiki was sure he would take off like a shot. But something was odd. Ranma was still there, looking a little desperate and a lot confused. 'I'll do my one good deed for the week.' She grabbed Ranma by the arm and lead him to the gate, then pointed towards the hospital. "It's that way, Ranma." She was rewarded with a smile and a hurried, "Thank you, Nabiki." Then he was gone, taking the Rooftop Express at a speed that left him out of sight when she blinked. As she was unlikely to get the answers she wanted from the now missing Ranma, Nabiki decided that she would get answers from the only other available source... Tofu.

By the time Nabiki was back in the back yard, Ranma was coming to a stop in the front lobby of Nerima General with the plan of not leaving until he found Hikari. At first he was unsure of what to do, so he just grabbed the first doctor he saw and asked," Where's my sister?" His immediate answer was, "Why don't you ask at the information desk? It's right over there." Ranma relaxed his grip as he turned to look and his eyes fell on the sign over the desk immediately behind him that said 'Information'.

He glanced back to the doctor and offered an apology, but the doctor just pulled his arm free and continued on his way. Ranma turned back to the desk behind him to find a young female receptionist looking at him with a smile.

"Is there someone I can help you find, sir?"

Ranma's answer was a rushed "Where'smysister? Yougottatellme! Issheokay?"

The young nurse was used to people coming to her and asking all kinds of questions, and at many speeds, but even she could barely keep up with the speed of Ranma's questions. "If you will just slow down and take a breath between words, I will be able to answer your questions. Now, what is her name?"

Something in the way the nurse was speaking got through to Ranma, so he took a second to calm down before answering, "Hikari. Her name is Hikari."

The nurse suddenly took on a businesslike attitude as she typed the name into her console. "Last name?"

"Saotome."

The nurse paused for a second, then instead of continuing her typing, she picked up her phone and dialed an extension. A short hushed conversation later, she hung up and turned back to Ranma. "Doctor Kishiro will be right down. Please take a seat in one of those chairs over there, and I'll call you when she gets here." With that, she pointed to a small bank of plastic chairs in the nearby lobby, then turned back to her terminal and began typing again.

With nothing else to do, Ranma sat down in the chair, hoping that this doctor would hurry. Ten minutes and as many comments of "Please sit down," later, a short, elderly doctor came up to Ranma and introduced herself as Doctor Kishiro. "Ranma, please follow me. I'm sure you have someone you want to see..." A moment later, they were in an elevator heading for the seventh floor. Ranma broke the silence with, "How did you know it was me?"

"Doctor Tofu's description of you was dead on. A young man, wearing red and black Chinese-style clothes, with a pigtail and likely to be unable to sit still for very long." This brought a smile to his lips as he thought about how accurate the doctors description was. Just as he was about to ask more, the door to the elevator opened and they both stepped out into a somewhat darkened hallway.

Doctor Kishiro lead the way down a long hallway and right up to a door before she stopped Ranma and, in a quiet voice said, "Ranma, she's in here, very likely asleep considering the time. It's past normal visiting hours, but it's been a while since you last saw her, so I'll make an exception this one time. Give me just a second to make sure she's presentable, okay?"

Doctor Kishiro could tell that Ranma wanted more than anything to tear that door down in his rush to get to his sister, but after a monumental battle, he got himself under control and nodded. Doctor Kishiro slipped inside, and Ranma couldn't hear anything going on inside. He was just considering opening the door anyway when it opened. Doctor Kishiro told him she was still asleep, then motioned him into a darkened room and to a chair set beside the rooms only bed, which he was quick to sit down in.

His eyes scanned the contents of the room, noticing that there were several machines in the room, with a few of them hooked up to his sister. The low amount of light was enough that his eyes couldn't make out many details at first, but soon enough he could. The first thing he noticed about her was the fact that her hair was nearly the same color as he remembered, just a little bit darker. Then came the patch placed over her left eye. He also didn't remember the mass of scars that marred her cheek and ran from above her hairline, under the eye patch, and down her cheek to her chin. He then noticed that her body had a frail quality to it, like something broken and just now put back together, and rather poorly at that. For a while, all Ranma could do was sit and stare at his sister, trying to take in all the details he could of the sleeping girl before him.

The silence in the room, only broken by the occasional beep from one of the machines, caused Ranma to look around. He noticed that the doctor was gone, leaving him alone with his sister. After a while of Ranma just sitting there watching her, Hikari started to toss and turn in her sleep. She was also making odd noises that sounded kind of like words, but had an odd almost-rumbling to them.

It took him several moments to decipher what she was saying, which turned out to be "Rrrranma". It was about the point that he figured out what she was saying that her tossing suddenly stopped. Hikari's nose twitched a few times, and Ranma could swear she said his name again before she seemed to calm into a much deeper slumber. Ranma stayed in the chair watching her sleep for nearly an hour before his recent exhaustion caused him to drift into a deep sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

-Tendo Dojo, next morning-

Genma awoke the next morning to find that his body would not respond to his commands. He tried to struggle for a few minutes then gave up since he didn't seem to be getting anywhere anyway. He decided that this would give him plenty of time to lay there and think about the past, something he hadn't done recently.

"That boy is gonna be the death of me yet. I mean look at what he did to me for nothing. It's not my fault the stupid girl couldn't handle the training. Shouldn't have stopped. Yeah, if I hadn't stopped to tell her to go home, we would have gotten clean away, and I would have been able to train that boy to be even stronger than he is now! It's all her fault! Stupid Hikari! Why couldn't she just go back home? She should have stayed home and learned how to cook and be a good housewife. That girl as a martial artist? Yeah, right. Stupid girl. As if a weak girl could learn something like the neko-ken..."

As busy as he was in his ruminations, he didn't think to check if anyone else was in the room with him, nor did he notice that his entire train of thought was spoken out loud. The quick rustling of silk was not enough to get his attention. But the rasp of a katana being drawn certainly got his attention, and the feeling of live steel being held against his neck kept it...

A knocking at the door disturbed the early-morning quiet. Kasumi went to answer, only to find Nodoka Saotome standing there. "Oh, my! Auntie Saotome! What a pleasant surprise! Have you had breakfast yet? It would not be a problem to set a place for you."

Nodoka smiled at Kasumi and answered, "I have not had breakfast yet, and would be glad to join you. Would you like some company in the kitchen while you finish up?"

Kasumi seemed taken back for a moment, then answered, "I would enjoy the chance to talk with you before breakfast." The two walked into the kitchen, and Kasumi returned to her breakfast preparations while Nodoka found a chair to sit in while they talked about how life was at the dojo. When breakfast was finished being prepared, Nodoka asked if it would be alright if she told everyone about breakfast. Kasumi nodded, and Nodoka walked out of the kitchen. She noticed Soun at the table already, reading his morning paper, so she merely nodded at the Tendo patriarch and headed upstairs. The first door she came to opened as she was preparing to knock, and Akane stepped out of her room in her school uniform.

"Oh, Auntie, it's nice to see you here this morning."

Nodoka smiled at the polite young girl and said, "Breakfast is ready. If you hurry, you should just have time to wash up before breakfast." The next door she happened on was that of Nabiki. She knocked on the door, but there was no answer. She knocked again, then peeked in to find that Nabiki was not there. 'Maybe she's already up and downstairs somewhere?' Nodoka thought, then walked back past Akane's room to the guest room to awaken her husband. She found him in his futon, covered from head to foot in bandages, and muttering something. She got close enough to hear, "...her fault! Stupid Hikari! Why couldn't she just go back home? She should have stayed home and learned how to cook and be a good housewife. That girl as a martial artist? Yeah, right. Stupid girl. As if a weak girl could learn something like the neko-ken..."

In a practiced motion that took less than a heartbeat, she unwrapped her sword and drew it from the scabbard, before pointing it at the neck of her unfortunate husband. "Genma, I'm going to give you one chance to explain yourself before I remove from your shoulders this weighty problem that you call a head."

-Nerima General Hospital, room 732-

Ranma slowly awoke from his deep slumber to find himself still in the same chair that he fell asleep in, but something was different. His senses told him that there was a layer of cloth over his arms, and that he was extremely warm. 'I bet that nice doctor... What was her name? Oh, yeah, Doctor Kishiro. I bet she brought me a blanket.' As he was thinking this he looked around the room to find that the bed in front of him was empty. For a moment, he was startled, but that was nothing compared to how startled he was to hear a quiet sound coming from under the blanket. He nearly jumped out of his chair before looking down to see the blanket fall back slightly and a scarred face slide out from underneath it. Looking at the same still-sleeping face he saw the night before but in better light, was enough to let Ranma see how truly fragile his sister really looked. Ranma decided this would be a good time to put her back in her bed. It only took a moment and almost nothing of his strength. 'Man, she's so light.' He gently lay her back in her own bed and covered, all the while making sure to be careful of the various things attached to her. As he backed away, she mumbled something. This time, he clearly caught her saying his name, still with the same odd rumbling.

"Rrrranma... " He smiled down at his sleeping sister before noticing that he really needed to go to the bathroom. His memories of the night before were vague, but he remembered seeing another door beside the door as he walked in. A moment later, he was done and walked back out after washing his hands to find Doctor Kishiro at the foot of Hikari's bed. The doctor caught sight of Ranma and quietly motioned him over.

"Ranma, I hate to ask you this, but I need to do a check-up on your sister. Could I get you to wait down the hall in the lounge, please? This should only take about 10 minutes or so. I'll come get you if she wakes up, okay?" A quiet nod from Ranma was answer enough as he padded out of the room in the general direction of the lounge. As he was passing the nurses station, he noticed that it was nearly time for school to start and also remembered that he hadn't practiced his martial arts today.

'Guess that's one good thing about Hi-chan being in the hospital. I get to skip out on some school. Better not tell anyone about that though, or it'll be a malleting I won't soon forget... Speaking of malleting, I hope Akane doesn't try to make lunch for me...' These thoughts saw him out onto the roof, and a moment after that found him deep into his first Kata. He had time to finish several more before he went back downstairs. Just as he was about to walk into the lounge, he literally bumped into Doctor Kishiro.

"Oh, there you are, Ranma. There's someone who wants to see you." With that, Doctor Kishiro led Ranma back towards Hikari's room. "She woke up a minute or so after you left, and started crying. I don't know how she knew you had been there, but she wanted to know why you left her alone again."

This brought them back to the door, where again, Doctor Kishiro had Ranma wait while she went in. He heard a soft conversation in the room, but could not make out the words. He was about to just bust in when a hand dropped out of nowhere and landed on his shoulder. He whirled around and dropped into a fighting stance, expecting to find any one of his enemies, and was surprised to find a slightly tired-looking Nabiki looking back at him with an amuzed smirk on her face.

"Hello, Saotome. Thought I would find you here." The smile faded and a more serious look came to Nabiki's face. "I'm not here to cause you any problems. I actually came this time just to talk."

A small smile crept into Ranma's face as he relaxed. Nabiki was something he could easily deal with. "Nabiki, I'm just about to talk to my sister for the first time in over 10 years. If you would like, you can come, but no pictures and no embarrassing questions, okay?"

"Really, Ranma," she said with a slightly sarcastic grin. "Would I do that?" Ranma laughed and turned back to the door to find Doctor Kishiro standing there watching them.

"If you are ready, you can come in now, but remember, keep it quiet, okay?" The doctor stepped aside and motioned them in. It was obvious that Ranma was a little nervous about this since at first he didn't move. But a quiet voice saying "Rrrranma?" brought him to his senses, and he quickly walked into the room his sister was waiting in, ignoring everything and everyone around him and focusing on the source of that voice.

What he saw was enough to make anybody cry. Hikari looked to be struggling to sit up in her bed. Again, she said, "Rrrranma? Is that you?" In the blink of an eye, Ranma was by her side holding her up.

"Yeah, Hi-chan, it's me." With those words, Hikari snaked her arms around Ranma, giving a weak hug that Ranma couldn't even feel. Ranma hugged her back as gently as he could. Nabiki quietly slipped around to the other side of the bed and arranged the pillows so that Hikari could sit up. Ranma carefully leaned Hikari back into the pillows, making her look even more fragile than she already appeared. Hikari didn't want to let go, so Ranma found himself leaning back into the pillows as well, and Nabiki quietly sat down in the nearby chair.

"Rrrranma, how did you get so big? And how did I?"

"Hikari, it's been a few years since you were put in here by Oyaji. In fact, you are now almost 16 years old."

Hikari seemed scared for a second but seemed to calm down when she didn't see her father. "Do you think Daddy's gonna throw us in the pit with the kitties again?" Ranma started, obviously not expecting the last question before steeling his resolve and promising Hikari," I won't let him take you away again. I give you my word, Hikari. I will protect you from him with my life, if that's what it takes to keep that fat panda away from you!" For a second, Ranma's eyes flashed a dangerous red. Hikari's only response to this was to tighten her grip enough on Ranma that he could actually feel it. Then she began to purr.

After a moment of just quietly holding her brother and purring, Hikari wrinkled her nose and looked around the room. She finally saw Nabiki for the first time, and Ranma noticed Hikari's hold on him got just slightly tighter as she seemed to cringe away from the strange girl sitting so close to her.

"Hikari, this is Nabiki Tendo. She's a good friend." Nabiki raised an eyebrow at Ranma for this introduction before turning to Hikari and saying, "Nice to meet you, Hikari." At that, Hikari smiled shyly, then turned back to Ranma and loosened her grip.

Nabiki smiled and said, "Have fun with your sister, Saotome. I have to get to school. I'll have Akane bring your homework to you here, okay?" Ranma's answer was immediate. "Um... Could you kinda bring them? I don't want Akane to come. Too many new people might scare her or something..."

"Sure, Saotome, I'll bring them for you. Just don't make it a habit." With a knowing look at Ranma, Nabiki got up and walked out the door. Ranma looked down at his sister to notice that she was asleep again, loosely hugging Ranma and still purring. Ranma looked up at a shuffle beside the bed, and saw Doctor Kishiro sitting in the chair that Nabiki had left.

"Ranma, since it looks like you are tied up right now, there are a few things I would like to talk with you about..."


	3. Chapter 3

Ranma just smiled at that comment and said,"I ain't going anywhere. Might as well, Doc."

"Well, the first thing I would like to talk to you about is the fact that your sister there just spent ten years in a coma, and unless she goes through intensive physical therapy, she will remain as weak as she is now, likely for the rest of her life. In fact, I'm surprised she is even able to hold onto you like she is now. But that just means she's stronger than I thought, which is a good thing. That means her therapy can start all the sooner..." Doctor Kishiro was interrupted by a large growl coming from Ranma's stomach, followed by a weaker one from Hikari's. "Looks like we may have to postpone the other part of this talk for later. I'll have the nurse bring a few trays, one for the each of you, okay?"

Ranma looked worried for a second. "Better make that 2 or 3 trays each. You haven't seen the Saotome stomach in action, and if that growl was any idea, my sister has it as well." The doctor only nodded and walked out the door. Ranma spent the next several minutes looking around the room, before a soft voice got his attention.

"Rrrranma?" He looked down at Hikari only to find that she was looking up at him and smiling. Again her light weight was enough for him to not notice her moving. "Wherrrre's momma?"

This being a question he didn't really expect, Ranma had to take a moment to answer. "She's not here, Hi-chan. I haven't seen her in a couple of days, not since she discovered... Well, lets just say that mom's not very happy with oyaji right now, and leave it at that, ok?"

"Okay, Rrrranma." At this she stopped talking, still looking very tired, and leaned back against her pillows, but didn't go to sleep. Instead, she just looked up at Ranma and grinned. "I'm glad you arrrre herrrre, Rrrranma, otherrrrwise, I'd be so scarrrred..."

"You don't have to be scared, Hi-chan. I'm here to protect you. Ain't nothin gonna get past me to you..." At this a squeak at the door brought the attention of both Saotomes to a nurse as he pushed in a small cart loaded with several trays of hospital food.

-Tendo dojo- guest room-

""Well, Genma, I'm waiting. Speak!" If one looked closely, they would see a crack in Nodoka's composure. After all this time, she had discovered the identity of the one who took her daughter from her, and it had turned out to be the same man she had married. While she knew about Ranma going on their little 10-year training trip, and even in her own way agreed to it, she had absolutely refused to allow Hikari to go. She had wanted a good reason for them to come home, and she knew that Ranma would want to visit sometimes with his younger sister. Nodoka had not thought that Hikari would run away to try to find her brother. She had looked for several years before giving up on the stone cold trail of her missing daughter and following the relatively warmer trail of her husband and son.

The stuttering fool before could only answer with, "B-B-B-But N-N-N-No-chan..."

An icy rage filled Nodoka as the last straw finally broke the camel's back. "Shut up, Saotome Genma. You no longer have the right to call me that name. You took my son away for ten years. You did all kinds of abuses to him, all in the name of training. You traded him for food. You starved him. You even threw him into a pit of cats wrapped in fish products hoping to teach him some ultimate technique or another. All this training seems like torture to me, but I won't deny that your techniques got results. I knew Ranma could handle it. But you promised me you would never, EVER, train our daughter. You even went so far as to swear a blood oath to me that if you ever did, you would gladly give up the Saotome name and your life. Now, before I go any further... WHERE DID YOU LEAVE MY DAUGHTER, YOU PATHETIC GUTLESS LITTLE WORM?!"

It was the quiet voice of Akane that answered from the doorway, "She's at Nerima General Hospital right now. Ranma's been there with her since yesterday evening."

Nodoka answered Akane with an equally quiet, "Thank you, Akane," before she turned back to Genma. "Genma, I'm calling you on that promise. You have 2 ways out. The first is to commit seppuku two days from now, at dawn. Frankly, I consider that the cowards way out. The second would be to immediately renounce the Saotome name until such a time as I am satisfied that you have recovered your honor. I'll give you until noon tomorrow to decide your answer. And to make sure that you really spend your time thinking, I'm going to be speaking to Kasumi. You will be fasting until I say otherwise. Oh, and if you run, I will hunt you down myself. And when I find you, because I WILL find you, I will take the choice away from you. Get my point?" Nodoka glanced at her sword as she said that last part. The Saotome matriarch resheathed and rewrapped her sword then walked out the door, completely ignoring anything Genma might have to say.

A few minutes later finds Nodoka downstairs drinking tea and having a short conversation with Kasumi. "Kasumi, dear, I have a few favors to ask of you. First, Genma needs to remain undisturbed for a while to think. Would you be so kind as to save his dinner for tomorrow?"

Kasumi's answer is a simple, "I do hope he doesn't get too hungry."

Nodoka smiled and responded, "Oh, I think he'll be too busy meditating to worry about food. And speaking of food, would you help me prepare a suitable lunch for meeting with my son and daughter? While I hear hospital food has gotten better, it still can't beat a nice home-cooked meal."

"I would be honored to help you cook a meal for Ranma and... Oh, my, what was your daughters name?"

Nodoka could only smile brightly. "Hikari. My daughters name is Hikari..."

-Nerima General, room 732-

Doctor Kishiro watched as Ranma took a small portion of rice and gently fed it to Hikari. She could only smile as Ranma patiently sat there ignoring the loud grumbling of his own belly to patiently feed his sister. Both Ranma and Doctor Kishiro could tell she was much hungrier than she had let on, and had watched for 5 minutes as she tried to feed herself, only to not have the strength to pick up her chopsticks. Ranma noticed that she was getting so frustrated that she was about to cry, so he decided to help her out by feeding her. It took nearly an hour for Hikari to devour a respectful 2 trays of food. She only really stopped eating because she was too tired to keep her eye open. So she smiled at Ranma when he offered more and went back to sleep to the tune of Ranma chowing through the remaining 4 trays of food.

After he finished, Ranma glanced at Hikari, noticing she was still asleep, and said, "So what else did ya want to talk about, Doc?"

A quiet but insistent beeping from Doctor Kishiro's waist distracted her before she could answer. "Sorry, Ranma, looks like I'm needed elsewhere. I'll come back when I can. I would prefer that Hikari be awake for that part of our talk anyway. Gotta run." With that, Doctor Kishiro left. A nurse came in to retrieve the trays and was completely ignored.

Ranma sat watching Hikari sleep. The peaceful expression on her face still could not hide how truly fragile she still looked. Ranma took a quick glance at her ki to find something startling. The ki flows that he was familiar with all seemed to be blocked or severely stunted somehow. 'I should get the old ghoul to look at her. Maybe she can figure out why Hi-chan's ki is like this...' He sat watching Hikari for another couple of hours. Suddenly, her nose started twitching, and her eye popped open, right before someone knocked at the door. Ranma tried to get up, but a frightened grip around his waist stopped that real quick.

"Hi-chan, I gotta answer the door, unless you want to answer it yourself..." Ranma smiled at the weak grin and watched as Hikari slowly let got. He opened the door to see that his mother and Kasumi were there, holding a large basket between them.

-Furinkan, Lunchtime-

Nabiki was sitting at her usual table during lunch, so it was no surprise when Ukyo walked up and slammed a 500 yen coin down on the table in front of her.

"Nabiki, I'm gonna cut to the chase here, I want to know where Ranchan is, and I want to know right now!" Nabiki picked up the coin with a grimace and examined it for a moment, trying to decide what the best way to answer would be. On the one hand, Ukyo had paid her fee, and Nabiki was bound by her own image as an information broker to give an answer. On the other hand, Ranma was spending time with his sister and probably didn't want to be disturbed. Plus, there was the fact that Ranma was not too happy with any of the fiancé squad after the mess they made of his and Akane's failed wedding. Her answer decided, Nabiki spoke.

"I'm sorry, Ukyo. That information is not for sale at any price." With that, Nabiki set the coin back down on the table, got up, and walked away. The shock of Nabiki not giving an answer was enough for Nabiki to make it back into the school building before Ukyo unfroze herself and picked up her coin, then walked off to go find Akane.

Nabiki found herself in the girl's bathroom before the realization of what she had just done hit her. 'Did I just put Ranma over money?' Then her thoughts continued. 'Wait a minute, if I know Ukyo as much as I think I do, she's gonna try to get that info from Akane.'

With that, Nabiki decided she needed to talk to her sister immediately to make sure she didn't give that information to Ukyo. Ranma had certainly done enough to deserve some private time with his family. A few minutes walk found Akane sitting under a nearby tree with her friends, Yuka and Sayuri.

"I would like the three of you to come with me for a few minutes, if you wouldn't mind?" With that, she led them back towards her table, correctly reasoning that Ukyo would not bother to come back to Nabiki since she wouldn't help Ukyo anyway.

"Akane, I'm gonna cut right to it. I need you, and your friends, since it's likely that Akane told you about it already, to keep Ranma's present location a secret from any of the other suitors. I saw Hikari this morning and I can tell you that the stress of such a meeting would likely cause her harm. From what I could tell, she could barely even move, much less fend for herself against any of them. Akane, I know you want to visit him, but I think it would be a good idea to wait for him to come to you." With that, Nabiki turned to Yuka and Sayuri.

"I know you guys are not martial artists, so it would probably be okay if you guys go to visit. If you want to, let me know, and I'll check with Ranma this afternoon and get back to you. Oh, and can you ask the same of those two goons Ranma occasionally hangs out with?" With that, she turned back to Akane. "If you have anything you want to say to Ranma tonight or in the next couple of days, I suggest you write him a letter. He asked me this morning to bring him his homework, and I could give it to him then." With that' the school bell rang signaling the end of lunch. As they got up to leave, nobody noticed the small shape that slipped out of the tree that sat beside Nabiki's table.


	4. Chapter 4

-Back at the hospital-

"Hi, mom, come on in. Let me take that basket. Um... Kasumi, would you mind waiting here a moment, then going on a short walk with me? I think mom deserves some time alone with her daughter. After all, it's been a while, and I'm sure they have plenty to say to each other..." Kasumi smiled and nodded while Ranma took the basket and carefully set it aside, then guided his mother into the room. "Hi-chan, guess who this is?"

"Momma? Rrrranma, is that Momma?" A smile and a glimmer of tears from Nodoka was her only answer as mother looked on daughter for the first time in over ten years. Hikari struggled to raise her arms to her mother, and that was all the invitation it took for Nodoka to leap into a gentle hug. Nothing much would be said for nearly an hour as mother and daughter cried together.

Meanwhile, Ranma and Kasumi watched this for a few minutes, before they both took a walk.

When Nodoka saw her daughter, she didn't recognize her at first. She thought that maybe Ranma was visiting someone else, instead of his sister. But the weak voice that spoke, even though it had an odd rumbling to it, was still recognizable as the voice of her darling daughter. The emotions inside her became a raging storm as she took in the fact that this was her daughter, and Genma had scarred her and, if appearances could be believed, half-blinded her. Genma would pay for that... But later. Right now, she had a daughter to finally greet.

"Momma? Rrrranma, is that Momma?" At this, Nodoka could barely hold back the years of emotions bottled inside, and Hikari struggling to raise her arms was enough to totally shatter that control. She crossed the space between them almost as fast as Ranma did, dropping her sword in the chair in her need to comfort her daughter.

When she really looked at the scars she was all set to run to the Tendo dojo and take Genma to task immediately for this, but the weak arms holding onto her were better than the best amazon glomp at holding someone in place. Noticing how weak her daughter was only added fuel to the fire of her desire to see Genma pay. But she was able to bank that fire for the time being. Now she had a daughter to comfort. And Nodoka had so many questions that she didn't know where to start. Luckily, Hikari took the choice form her.

"Momma?" Said a quiet voice from inside the hug.

Nodoka answered in an equally quiet voice, "I'm here, my daughter. And I'll never let that man hurt you again." Had anyone been watching at that moment, they would have seen a red and black aura on par with Ranma's best burst into existence from the pair, but would have been unable identify which of the ladies was the source. Nothing else was said between them until Ranma and Kasumi returned.

While mother and daughter got reacquainted, Ranma and Kasumi were walking through the halls, talking about mostly nothing. After half an hour of this, Kasumi was getting tired, so they sat down in the waiting room, but continued talking. After they had been sitting there for about half an hour, Ranma's stomach started growling and they decided it was time to go back and see about getting some food. Little did they know that events were about to take a turn for the hectic.

"Nihao, Airen!" was the only warning Ranma had before he was engulfed in a classic Amazon glomp. He barely paid any attention to her, being used to her babbling from countless encounters with the amazon bear trap. However, he did catch the end of her babbling, since it differed from usual. "Who Airen's new girlfriend? She new fiancee? I take care of her real good. Obstacles is for killing." With that, she took off in the direction of room 732.

The last words had barely penetrated his mind when he figured out who she was talking about. 'Who's she talking about? She met mom already, so that aint it. She knows Kasumi. The nurse was male, and Doctor Kishiro is old. That only leaves...' His thoughts were cut off by his realization. "Hikari." By the time he realized who she meant, Shampoo had already burst through the door and had taken a swing at Hikari's bed, hitting and crushing it into splinters, but missing Hikari. Nodoka had managed to grab her at the last possible moment and pull her up into her arms right before the bonbori struck. A second later found her holding just the handles, as a swipe from Ranma's claws shredded the heads of her favorite weapons. The growl echoing through the room was deep enough that the glass rattled in the windows. Ranma disappeared from sight, only to reappear directly in front of Shampoo, his fist buried in her gut.

"You will neverrr hurrrt my sister, Shampoo. Trrry again, and I won't use my fist." With this he removed his fist from her gut and 4 red claws burst into existence from the knuckles of that hand. Ranma's fist blurred and four small tings rang out through the room as a large portion of Shampoos hair fell to the floor. Then there came the bright flash of blood as Ranma drew his claws across each of Shampoo's cheeks, flaying the skin deep enough to ensure that jagged scars would be left.

Shampoo was sent out of the room by an almost full-strength open-palmed strike to the chest from Ranma. He leaned over and picked up the mass of purple hair with four hair ties attached. Ranma then handed them to a now-cowering Hikari before going to the door just in time to see Shampoos retreating back as she fled down the hall in tears and trailing blood drops.

"Next time I'll take your head instead of just your hair and your beauty," he shouted at her retreating back.

"She's gone, and good riddance. As if I needed any more problems..." The sniffling of his sister brought Ranma back into the room and to her side.

"Rrrranma, who was that? And is she gone?" At this, two more arms went around Hikari as Ranma joined the hug that Nodoka started. After a few minutes of Hikari sniffling, the stress of recent events took it's toll and Hikari drifted off to a deep sleep. Looking over at the ruins of the bed, Ranma decided that he could continue holding his sister. It only took a moment to adjust his grip on her to a more comfortable two-armed carry. As he shifted his grip, Nodoka released hers and began to check Hikari over for obvious injuries. She was the first to notice that during the recent flurry of activity, Hikari had lost the eye patch she had been wearing, exposing the missing eye to their view. Her muffled gasp brought the missing eye patch to Ranma's attention just as Kasumi came back into the room, followed by 2 nurses pushing a gurney and Doctor Kishiro.

At first, the nurses tried to get Ranma to release his hold on her, but a quiet growl was enough to send them away quickly as he carefully lay Hikari down on the gurney. As he did so, Doctor Kishiro began to speak.

"So, I see you found the other thing I wanted to tell you, Ranma. As you can see, the accident that gave her that bad scar also cost Hikari her eye. From what I read in the records, the doctors at that time tried everything they could to save it, but the eye was too far damaged to really do anything with. It was decided at that time to just remove the few remnants of the eye and close the hole over completely."

"This was no accident, Doctor. My father had some really stupid ideas for training. This is the result of one of the worst. In fact, I still carry a few small scars from this training myself, but nothing like this." With his free hand, he gestured to a few barely visible scars on his arms and wrists, and then pulled up the back of his shirt to show more of the same.

"Ranma, according to the records from the time of admittance, one Genma Saotome admitted her after her 'having fallen and broken a glass, which cut her badly with the shards.' If he actually did this on purpose, then I have to report this to both my boss and the local police." With that, Doctor Kishiro walked towards the door, only to be stopped by Nodoka's hand on her shoulder.

"Doctor, I appreciate everything you have done for my daughter, but I have to ask you for a favor. Can you give me an hour before you make that call? I have to go deal with my stupid husband and make sure he doesn't run off." Doctor Kishiro's answer was a simple nod as she walked out of the room to see about arranging another room for Hikari before she made a few calls.

Nodoka then turned to Ranma and smiled. "Stay here and protect your sister, Ranma. Who knows what else could happen?" With that, Nodoka knelt down and retrieved her sword from the wreckage on the floor and left. Ranma looked around the room, and could only agree with Kasumi when she said, "Oh, my! What a mess."

A moment later, a pair of twin growls was heard from both of the Saotome stomachs, which was loud enough to awaken Hikari. "Rrrranma, I think we arrrre hungrrrry. Is therrrre something we can eat?" With a chuckle, Ranma went to find the basket of food his mother brought. Just as they were about to dig into the food, the earlier 2 nurses came in and said," We have found an available room for Hikari that would be more comfortable, if you will let us guide you there."

Ranma could only smile. "Sure, but make it quick, I don't think Hikari can wait much longer for her food..."

Just as they got to the new room, Ranma perked up. "The old ghoul is here." And sure enough, there she was, just coming down the hall on her walking stick looking rather distressed.

-Nekohanten, earlier-

Cologne was quietly sitting and enjoying a cup of tea during a slow period right after lunch when Shampoo burst through the front door. It only took a moment for the elder to recognize something was terribly wrong with Shampoo, and not just the fact that she now sported a radically new hair cut and a few cuts on her face.

"Shampoo, what happened? And how did you lose your hair?" Cologne had a few suspicions, but wanted to hear it from Shampoo.

After Shampoo managed to calm down somewhat, she answered in Mandarin. "I think I may have messed up, great-grandmother. I went to see Ranma, but Ranma wasn't at home. I waited to see where Ranma was, but it wasn't that easy to do when no one was home except Kasumi and Ranma's mother. I managed to hear them talking about Ranma being in the hospital visiting a girl named Hikari."

"I was not really listening since I was distracted by some noisy birds but decided that since they said they were going to see Ranma for lunch, I would follow them and see Ranma. I thought it was a good plan, so I sat down to wait. A few hours later, Ranma's mother and Kasumi walked out carrying a large basket. I followed them to the hospital, not close enough to hear them talking, but able to see them."

"I had to take a separate elevator to get to the same floor as Ranma's mother and Kasumi, since I did not want them to know I was following them. I managed to hide and follow them all the way to the room Ranma was in and saw him smiling at a sick girl in a bed. I thought this was bad, since Ranma never smiled at me like that. So I got mad and thought maybe she was an obstacle..."

Cologne could see where this was going, and decided to ask a question of Shampoo. "Tell me, Shampoo. Did you try to attack this young girl?"

For a moment a burst of pride comes through Shampoo as she remembers her first impulse to attack the obstacle. "Yes, great-grandmother. I know the rule about how to deal with obstacles."

Then a nearly palpable wave of sadness and depression came over Shampoo. "But I made a big mistake. I did not get enough details before I attacked the girl. I did not know that the sick girl was Ranma's sister..."

Cologne did a spit-take as she heard that piece of information. "YOU DID WHAT?! You attacked son-in... You attacked Ranma's sister? Do you realize what you may have done? Had this girl been just an obstacle, I could have overlooked the fact that she was sick, depending on just how sick she was. But the fact that she was not an obstacle, coupled with the fact that she is sick... You may have not only cost yourself Ranma, but you may have just caused a war between Ranma and the entire Amazon tribe. Pray that I can fix this. I'm going to go see Ranma now. You are going to tell me what room they can be found in, then you are going to go bandage your face and go to your room, and on pain of death you are not to leave it until I return. Am I clear on this?"

Without even bothering to wait for an answer, Cologne pogoed out of the Nekohanten and quickly headed towards the hospital, thinking furiously along the way on how to solve this. 'I could flat out dissolve this mess, but that would make our entire stay here a wasted trip, and I know the council would reject that one. Perhaps I can offer some kind of restitution, and maybe Ranma will consider joining our tribe on his own, or being an ally. I just hope I can work this so that he doesn't see us as enemies. He would be well within his rights, even by our laws, to call for both Shampoo's death and mine. And after Saffron, I'm sure we would not be able to stand against him if that was what he really wanted.'

After a moment, Cologne continued with her thoughts. 'But just to make sure, maybe I can offer some kind of assistance with healing his sister.'

This line of thought brought her to the entrance of room 732 just in time to see Ranma, Kasumi, and Hikari going into a room a few doors down the hall, and with a few quick staff-strides she dismounted.

"Hello, Ranma. Do you mind if I join you for a while?"


	5. Chapter 5

Ranma glared at the elder for a moment, trying to decide what game she was playing, then decided not to be too rude. "Sure, elder. We were just about to sit down and eat. Would you like to join us?"

For a moment Cologne was stunned by Ranma's manners as he led her quietly into Hikari's room. Ranma, seeing her unspoken question, decided to enlighten her. "I do have manners, I just don't use them very often. But I think this is a good time to do so, right? Elder Cologne, this is my little sister, Hikari Saotome. She woke up from a long coma just over a week ago."

With this, Ranma turned to Hikari. "Hi-chan, this is Elder Cologne. She is a good teacher and runs a local restaurant. Makes some really good Ramen."

"Hikari, I would also like to introduce you to one of my dearest friends, Kasumi Tendo. She's the sister of Nabiki. Nabiki was here this morning, and helped you with the pillows, remember?" Ranma pointed out the young lady who was quietly sitting in the nearby chair. Hikari looked at both of the ladies, and her nose twitched as she took a small sniff.

"Rrrranma, they smell like flowerrrrs. Kasumi smells like the ones in frrrront of momma's house, and Cologne smells like the prrrretty rrrred one daddy gave momma, and she was saving in herrrr diarrrry." For some reason, Ranma found this really funny and could not help but start laughing. Within a few moments, everyone was laughing except Hikari, who looked a little displeased at being laughed at.

A pair of twin loud growls again echoed through the room, bringing the laughter to a sudden halt. "I guess it's time to eat." With that, Ranma grabbed the basket his mother and Kasumi had brought, then looked for somewhere to set it. Finding a small table in the corner, he dragged that over and began to dig into the basket, with Kasumi's help bringing out a large quantity of food and filling the table with it. After setting out all the food, Ranma noticed the distinct lack of seating, beyond the chair Kasumi had been sitting in.

"Elder, if you would like, you can take the chair, I'll stand, and Kasumi can sit on the end of the bed with Hikari. Hi-chan, do you think you can handle the chopsticks this time, or will you need help?"

A small flush of red appeared on Hikari's face. "I think I would like to trrrry on my own, Rrrranma." With that, Ranma brought over a plate loaded with various foods and a big bowl of rice.

"Eat what you can, Hi-chan. I'll be right over by the table eating." As they were eating, they all talked about various little things. It wasn't long before everyone had eaten their fill of the good food, this time Hikari managing to feed herself with only a small amount of help from Ranma before drifting off to sleep. The chopsticks were still in her hand, and only a small amount of food was left on her plate.

Seeing how everyone was done eating, Ranma decided it was time to talk with Cologne. For a moment, the temperature of the room dropped to near freezing, then returned to merely cool. "Alright. Now that we are all fed and Hikari is sleeping, I think it's time we spoke about Shampoo trying to kill my sister."

The meal had given Cologne time to consider what she wanted to say, and how she wanted to try to keep Ranma from going ballistic and destroying her, Shampoo, and their village. "Ranma, I'll be honest. This is not much of a surprise. Oh, I didn't know you had a sister, but I'm not surprised that Shampoo attacked as she did. She has been getting more and more desperate lately to bring you home, and I finally cut her off from my help about a week before the failed wedding. I've known for some time that you would not come home to China with us, and was working towards a way that we could part on good terms. Shampoo's foolishness this morning merely forced me to move faster than I was prepared to. I would like to do what I can to fix this."

"I can see just by looking at her that Hikari is weaker than she should be, even taking in the fact that she has been unmoving for a long time. I would like the chance to see what I can do to help her. Our tribe has some medicines and techniques that can be used to return lost strength caused by such as this. I would be willing to take the time to help your sister, if you can trust me that far." Only Ranma noticed at this point that Hikari was actually awake, quietly finishing her remaining food and listening in on the conversation.

Ranma sat in silence looking at Cologne for a few minutes before answering. "I was going to ask if you could help with that anyway. I can tell by looking at her ki that it's stunted somehow, beyond what it should be. She seems to sleep a lot and has no strength at all. Earlier when she hugged me the first time, I couldn't even feel it. Plus, this morning when I woke up, I didn't even notice that she was in my lap till she made a noise. I guess part of that I could just say is me being so tough, but she didn't weigh nothin'. She's so frail, it felt like if I moved wrong, she would break. I don't like her bein' that weak."

"I would also like to make surrre that Shampoo does not accompany you when you come. If I see herrrr anywherrrre nearrrr my sisterrrr again, I will finish what I starrrrted this morrrrning, no matterrrr what is decided herrrre today." By the time Ranma had finished speaking, the temperature in the room dropped another few degrees, and his voice was sounding more like a growl then a voice. After a moment, the growl stopped, and Ranma continued on.

"Do you think there is anything you can do about Hikari's eye?" With this, all eyes went to Hikari, startling her in mid yawn and causing her to hide her face. Ranma got up and sat down beside Hikari, lightly draping his arm around her shoulders. "Hi-chan, look at Cologne, ok? Please?"

When Hikari turned toward Cologne, there was a pair of gasps, one each from Cologne and Kasumi. Kasumi just let out her trademark, "Oh, my!" Cologne blinked a few times before looking carefully at Hikari's face, her eyes following the line of the scars as it trailed from her chin to her hairline. Hikari started turning red and was about to hide her face again when Cologne looked to Ranma and spoke up. "Is this the result of the same training you went through, Ranma? Did the fool that calls himself your father inflict the neko-ken on Hikari?"

"Yeah, he threw her into the pit just as many times as he did me. Even when she was lying on the ground holding her bleeding face, he still threw us in. I tried to stop him, but he just laughed at me and threw both of us in anyway." As Ranma was talking, the temperature in the room dropped to cold enough that you could easily see their breaths.

"Ranma, I think that may be why her ki is stunted. Who trained her before the neko-ken? I know Genma wouldn't have. He is too pig-headed to consider girls worthy of training."

"I gave her what training I could in my few breaks from pop training me. As I remember, she had a good start, but was nowhere near the level she could have been at."

Cologne frowned at this. "Ranma, do you realize what your father did when he dropped her into that pit? Hikari likely didn't have enough training to be able to handle the ki enhancement brought on by the neko-ken. From what I see, and the way Hikari talks and acts, Genma was at least partly successful, but at a cost. Hikari, when you mentioned earlier that I smelled like a flower, what did you mean by that?"

Hikari's quiet voice could be heard through the room. "You smell like the rrrred flowerrrr that momma has in herrrr diarrrry. She was keeping it therrrre since it's the only flowerrrr poppa everrrr gave herrrr. She said it was a rrrrose."

Cologne started at that, then smiled at Hikari. "It's probably because of the dried rose petals that I use in my hand lotion... But I didn't use any today."

Kasumi spoke up. "Ranma-kun, do you remember what I was doing yesterday afternoon?"

Ranma thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think I do. Weren't you workin' in the flower garden?"

Cologne thought on this for a moment. "It seems to me that Hikari has a good sense of smell. The neko-ken appears to have taken a different form with her than it did you. Perhaps instead of giving her the enhanced battle capabilities, it just enhanced her senses, but at a cost. It looks like it is leaching her strength to keep it up, and if we don't increase that quickly, it may just keep eating at her ki till it kills her."

Ranma sat there quietly for a few minutes, then the temperature in the room suddenly returned to normal. A low growl was heard through the room before Ranma spoke. "Genma rrrreally did it this time. It will take a mirrracle forrrr him to surrrrvive the day, since I'm gonna kill him, slowly and painfully." With this, Ranma hopped off the bed, and his ki-claws popped to full length.

Ranma was at the door and about to stalk out of the room when a small voice echoed through the quiet room. "Rrrranma? Don't kill poppa. Please? I'm okay, see?" Everyone looked to see Hikari struggling to stand and was barely able to do so by holding onto the side of her bed with both badly trembling arms. She managed to hold herself up for a whole three seconds before she started collapsing. Ranma was at her side the instant she started collapsing and picked her up in his arms just as she passed out from exhaustion.


	6. Chapter 6

-Nerima General, room 740-

The shock of Hikari actually standing then passing out was only dispelled by the erratic beeping coming from the still-attached heart monitor beside her bed and Doctor Kishiro coming walking in. "Sheesh, Ranma, I leave for a few minutes to make a few phone calls, and come back to find..." The erratic beeping brought the doctors words to a halt as she rushed to the bedside and pressed the panic button. A moment later, a young female nurse rushed in to find out what was wrong. Doctor Kishiro's only answer was, "Clear the room, NOW."

A moment later found Ranma, Cologne, and Kasumi shuffled outside the room and pointed in the general direction of the waiting room. When they got there, Cologne spoke up.

"Ranma, I have to go. I have a few things I need to look up at the Nekohanten before I can help Hikari. I'll come back as soon as I have what help I can give. " With that, Cologne hopped on her staff and pogoed off down the hallway. Five minutes later found them sitting staring at the walls when Hikari was rushed by on a gurney. Doctor Kishiro stopped and told Ranma, "We stabilized her, but I'm having her placed in ICU for now. If you want to see her before then, come with me now, Ranma."

With an apologetic smile at Kasumi, Ranma took off after the doctor, barely making it through the elevator door before it closed on them. Ranma was shuffled to Hikari's side to watch as Doctor Kishiro and 2 other doctors worked on her, trying to stabilize her. A quick glance at her ki showed it was fading away, but Ranma could do no more than make that out before they reached the fifth floor. Hikari was rushed out, but Doctor Kishiro stopped Ranma from following. "This entire floor is isolated, so I can't normally let you follow. But I think, in case she wakes up again, she will want a familiar face to awaken to. I will let you stay for a little while, but not for very long."

Hikari was rushed to a large room. Ranma was pointed into the hallway by Doctor Kishiro so he could watch for a few minutes and not be in the way. Watching her ki slowly fade almost to the point of disappearing, only to watch it come back just as weak as before made Ranma not want to watch, so he headed back to the elevator and pressed the first floor button. Just as the doors closed, he heard Doctor Kishiro saying, "She's crashing again."

As Ranma descended floors, his mood descended until he reached the first floor. When he stepped out of the elevator, he didn't even notice that all the doctors and nurses were shrinking against the walls, or downright running away. After all, it's not very often that a brightly glowing young man with four nearly foot-long glowing red claws extending from each tightly clenched fist just steps out of an elevator. Ranma just continued to stalk out of the hospital, hoping to teach a panda a lesson in not hurting anyone that he cared for ever again.

As he was passing through a local park on his way to the dojo, Ranma noticed a woman sitting on a bench beside the path. At first he wanted to ignore her, but something about her attracted his attention. He didn't know what it was until he saw that the crying woman had the Saotome honor blade, and red hair. Those details were enough to snap him out of most of his anger and replace it with concern. "Momma, are you alright?"

-One hour earlier

Nodoka had left the hospital with the full intention of going home and making a panda-skin rug, but as she walked towards the Tendo dojo, she realized that that would only be the easy way out. She decided that the first step would be to make sure he became a ronin by the end of the day. She found herself liking that idea a lot, but still didn't think it was enough. As she was passing through a small park, she decided that she needed a little more time to think on her revenge. Spying a small bench to the side of a path, she decided that would be a good place to stop and think.

As she sat to think on what else to do, an image of a small blue eyed girl popped into her mind, and she remembered a time many years ago when she had watched her daughter playing in her front yard. With a smile, Nodoka continued to remember her daughter, but inevitably, the old images were replaced by an image much newer. This image was much stronger, in that it had only happened an hour ago. Ranma had walked her into a hospital room and introduced her to her own daughter. The next image would stick in her mind to her dying day. Her beautiful daughter was laying in a bed, so weak that she could barely hold her arms up to hug her mother.

The tears started to simmer in her eyes as she remembered taking Hikari in her arms and giving her beautiful daughter a hug. Then an image from a little later struck her, which brought the simmering tears out. Hikari with only one of her beautiful blue eyes, and the horrible scarring that Nodoka had not really noticed before. A soft voice interrupted any further images. "Momma, are you alright?"

Nodoka quickly wiped her eyes with her hand and turned towards the voice. Seeing her son, she smiled a little. "I'm just thinking about Hikari, Ranma. And trying to decide what to do about what Genma did to her."

As Ranma was about to answer, he was cut off by a loud voice proclaiming," Saotome, you fiend! I'll get you for scarring and disgracing my beautiful Shampoo!" The air was just as suddenly filled with chains flying towards his position. Not expecting this attack, he nearly didn't manage to grab his mother and leap out of the way before the chains were filling the space they were standing in a moment ago. Setting her down with a hurried "Rrrrun to the dojo", Ranma immediately went on the attack, slashing chains out of the air with his claws and leaping onto the nearby rooftop where the source of the chains stood, his eyes glowing as red as his claws.

"Someone darrrres to attack my family again? Come, Duck-boy. Let's play." Any normal person would have seen their death written in Ranma's eyes, but Mousse did not see the danger he was in, mainly because he was looking at a nearby chimney, thinking it was Ranma. But a hard punch to the face was enough to bring Mousse's attention to the right place. They traded blows for a few minutes before Ranma got tired of the game and decided to finish it with a shout of "Kachu Tenshin Amigurrrriken Rrrrevised, Claw Rrrrain!" This shout was followed by a literal rain of slashes that left Mousse bald, naked, without glasses, and covered in scratches of varying depths and lengths. He was also missing large portions of the flesh along his chest, arms, and legs.

When Ranma stopped, Mousse slumped to the floor, only to be the bearer of a kick that sent him flying in the general direction of the Nekohanten. "Tell the old ghoul that I will be by laterrrr to see herrrr." Ranma then turned towards the dojo and started to walk in it's direction, hoping to get there without running into any other crazies.


	7. Chapter 7

As Nodoka fled from the scene, she remembered that she had still not decided what to do about her husb- 'No, Genma,' she reminded herself as she slowed to a walk. She couldn't even bring herself to want to remain married, but she would not be the one who bore the dishonor in this. That would fall on the hulking ball of flab that was hiding in the Tendo's guest room. 'He better still be there, unless he wants to meet the sharp end of my blade. If he still is, I might still let him live. If he ran, I don't know which would be better, using my katana to finish him, or the weapon he turned his own son into...'

She didn't notice that she had come to a complete stop and drawn her katana in the time she was thinking that until she found a hand landing lightly on her shoulder and a soft voice saying "Are you alright?"

-A few minutes earlier and half a block behind

Ranma was slowly stalking towards the dojo, thoughts of how to deal with Genma flowing through his mind. Most of those ideas involved a panda-skin rug and panda flambe, with few of them having him last the day. As he was considering the merits of a new rug versus prolonging the torture, he noticed his mom had stopped ahead of him and had drawn her sword. Thoughts of revenge immediately fled before a more pressing need to protect his family. A moment's scanning of the area, however, brought no obvious threats to his notice. When he decided the area was clear, he stepped forward and placed one hand on his moms shoulder and said, "Are you alright?"

Her reaction would be comical if it had happened any other time. Not expecting anyone to intrude on her thoughts like that, she jerked around, losing her grip on the sword. Said sword was sent tumbling straight up into the air as she flung her arms up in fright and spun around. The actions of her arms, not perceived as a threat by Ranma, got by his defenses and knocked them both on their butts. A moment later and Ranma's sense of danger flared and allowed him to shift just in time for the Saotome sword to embed itself into the ground, point first... right where his family jewels had been not a split second before.

There was a moment where both Saotomes just stared at the blade before Ranma burst into laughter as he stood up. He took a moment to tug the blade from the ground before wiping the dirt off of it with the edge of his shirt. Noting there was no dirt left on the sword, he offered his hand to his mother, who was still sitting where she had fallen, looking still slightly stunned at nearly castrating her manly son. Nodoka took the hand offered to her and accepted the sword back with a thoughtful look. With a smile, she started to head towards the dojo, finally deciding on how to deal with the panda there, amongst other things. The rest of the walk was taken in silence.

When they arrived at the dojo, nobody answered the door at first. As Ranma was about to just open the door himself, it opened on it's own and Happosai was standing there looking unusually serious. It took a moment for the shock of someone other than Kasumi opening the door to sink in, much less a serious Happosai. But before they could close the door, a quiet voice echoed through the doorway behind them. "I'm home." Ranma, Happosai, and Nodoka turned to look behind themselves as Kasumi stepped through the doorway, completely safe. Ranma turned to her with a, "Welcome home, Kasumi." Nodoka just smiled at Kasumi, still working out a few details on her earlier decision. Happosai just walked into the dining room, leaving the others behind.

A little later found Kasumi, Ranma, Nodoka and Happosai sitting around the table drinking tea. Nodoka decided this was as good a time as any to talk to her family. But before that, she turned to Kasumi. "Kasumi, can I ask you a favor? Would you prepare some snacks while my son and I go upstairs and bring down my wayward husband? There are some very important matters that need to be discussed, and it would not do to do so without them."

Kasumi headed into the kitchen. A few minutes later, Kasumi returned to the dining room with snacks and a fresh pot of tea to find the seating had changed. Genma was at one end of the table, and Nodoka was kneeling at the far end of the table, the Saotome blade on the table before her and her son sitting beside her. Happosai sat between Ranma and Genma with his back to the door, smoking his pipe. After Kasumi sat down, Nodoka spoke.

-Tendo guest room, earlier

As the day progressed, Genma found himself slowly getting feeling back, and in fact began to notice that he could move again, if only slowly. Genma sat up, working himself along a nearby wall until he sat under the window, against the wall. He then found himself thinking for a while along the lines that maybe he had actually messed up with Hikari before his thought processes, as they were, decided that it couldn't be his fault. "It had to be that girls fault. That's it! It's all Hikari's fault. If only she hadn't tried to come along. Then the boy would be stronger still, and I wouldn't be laying here unable to move. I'd be able to eat some of what's-her-name's food. Oh, I can taste it now. She makes the best food, even better than what Nodoka used to make when we all lived together. I wonder if she has something downstairs that I can eat? Maybe I can even convince her to make something for the poor old panda. She sure knows her place, not like that failure of a daughter that Nodoka bore. If she had just been like what's-her-name, and not tried to step out of her place by learning martial arts..."

These thoughts kept circulating through his head. Genma was too busy 'thinking' to notice he was talking out loud again. But those words did not go unnoticed by the two standing in the doorway, having quietly opened the door in time to hear the whole last cycle of his 'thoughts'. Ranma's claws burst into existence and he took a single step forward before Nodoka stopped him by placing her hand on his shoulder. "Ranma, let me."

Ranma glared at Genma for a moment then stepped back, not bothering to relax, but willing to let his mother deal with it. Nodoka turned to Genma with a smile plastered on her face. "Genma, I see you have taken some time thinking, and not run away. So in reward, I would like you to come downstairs and have a snack with us. There are things we must discuss."

Ranma schooled his face into a smile before releasing his claws. Between the two of them, they managed to get Genma downstairs without injury, only 'accidentally' banging Genma against something twice, once on the door out of the guest room, and the second time on the railing. They set Genma down at one end of the table and just barely sat down at the far end of the table before Kasumi returned with a tray of snacks and a fresh pot of tea.

Nodoka was the first to speak. "Genma, not too long ago, I decided that Ranma was manly enough to have fulfilled a certain contract. Do you remember? " The shudder that ran through both Saotome males was enough for all concerned. "He could have done much better, but Genma managed to fulfill the contract... somehow." The icy glare Nodoka had on was enough to keep Genma silent.

"But now there is another contract that must be dealt with. You see, on the day Hikari was born, Genma signed a blood oath to never train her. The terms of the contract were simple. They stated that he would never train Hikari in the art, or he would give up his name and his life. As far as I knew, Genma never broke that contract. Until today, that is. This morning, I arrived here to discover that the nice visit I was expecting with my husband and son was not to be. Genma was upstairs, bandaged heavily. Imagine my shock when I discover that the man I was concerned about a moment before proceeded to admit that he had not only taken my daughter, but..."

The phone ringing cut Nodoka off at that point. Kasumi, ever being the proper host, got up to answer it, and everyone waited for her to return. Instead her voice rang through the room. "Ranma, it's for you. It's Doctor Kishiro."

At the mention of Hikari's doctor, Ranma ran for the phone, his concern obvious. As Ranma was on the phone, a scratchy voice echoed through the room from behind Happosai. "Good afternoon. Is Ranma here?" Everyone in the room except Happosai turned to see Cologne standing behind him.

Kasumi spoke up. "I'm sorry, Elder Cologne, Ranma is on the phone with Doctor Kishiro right now. If you would like to wait, I'm sure he will be right..." Kasumi was cut off as a cry of misery echoed through the room, before it shifted into a loud yowl. A moment later the tea in the kettle and all the cups froze solid as the temperature in the room dropped to below freezing, but no one really noticed since the source of that condition had just stalked into the room.

Ranma stood hunched over in the doorway, his eyes glowing blood red and staring straight at Genma. His claws popped in and out convulsively, causing an odd flickering from their near-constant shifting. Then, in the space of an eyeblink, Ranma was across the room, one arm straight out before him and one of his fists placed against Genma's shoulder. Everyone could see the crimson claws popping out of Genmas back. But the most chilling part was the voice that echoed through the room. It seemed perfectly calm, except for one detail...

"Fatherrrr, you will pay. Because of you, Hikarrrri is dead." At that, both Nodoka and Kasumi fainted. Happosai just looked a little sad. But Cologne spoke up. "Ranma, stop. Even if she is dead, we can save her. I have something with me that I was going to use to increase her stamina. It can also be used in other ways. Even if she is dead, it can revive her, but we must hurry. Leave the panda for later."

Ranma seemed to consider this for a second, then made a choice. "Genma, you will not rrrrun." With that said, he drew his free claw across the backs of both of Genma's ankles, slicing them to the bone as well as cauterizing the wound behind them, then dropped the claws as he turned to Cologne and the now-hobbled Genma fell to the floor. "Explain now, or join the panda."

Cologne explained. "The tribe came into possession of a feather said to be from Saffron's father. It is said to be gifted with the power of rebirth, but legend says there is a cost. I don't know the cost because that part of the legend was lost. But even so, I am sure we can make it work." With that, she held out the box that held the feather, only to find an empty hand a moment later and Ranma gone. Her shock was nothing compared to the burst of power she felt from the direction of the hospital a few minutes later.

-Nerima General Hospital

Ranma slid to a stop for the second time in the lobby, this time in front of the elevators with a finger on the call button. The moment it was open, he was through and hitting the button marked 5. As the elevator doors closed and the elevator started to rise, Ranma looked at the old box for the first time. It was a black wood box with golden hinges and a silver hasp. Deciding to get a look at the feather while he was waiting, he popped the hasp and opened the top to find a single dark red feather in the box that seemed to have red flames rolling off of it, but exuded no heat. Those details enthralled him till he heard the doors opening on the fifth floor. Closing the lid of the box, Ranma stepped out to find the room Hikari had been in.

As Ranma approached the door to the room Hikari had been in, a nurse was wheeling a gurney with a small sheet-covered form out of her room, followed by Doctor Kishiro. Ranma was instantly at their side. Seeing the sad look in his eyes, Doctor Kishiro stopped the nurse. "This is her brother. Lets let him have a moment, shall we?" She looked sadly at the gurney and gently pulled the sheet back from Hikari's face, showing her face at rest. She then pulled the nurse aside and they quietly began to go over a few details on what they had done to revive Hikari for the records.

Ranma ignored them in favor of the still, small form on the gurney. Seeing Hikari motionless brought tears to Ranma's eyes and he reached out to place the box on the gurney so he could wipe his eyes when the world exploded in white.

When his vision cleared, Ranma found himself staring at a large flaming bird that seemed to be floating above Hikari's corpse. When he looked it in the eyes, he heard a voice echo through his mind. "You have been found worthy of a boon, youngling. But remember, even if it is a gift, there is always a cost. Normally, to return that which was lost to life, another life must end. But in your case, you have an abundance of energy which can be used to fuel the rebirth. If you do this, she will be as strong as you, but will be bound to you in life and death. As long as one of you lives, both shall. Do you accept this cost and this boon?"


	8. Chapter 8

It took Ranma a while to figure out what this meant. Hi-chan would live again! And would be able to fend for her self! There was only one answer to give. "Yes, I accept."

The flaming bird before him shrieked and the flames surrounding him grew to encompass both Hikari and Ranma. The moment the flames surrounded Ranma, he was filled with an agony never before felt as most of his chi was painfully wrenched away. For a moment, Ranma could swear he was looking at the bird before him from below before the agony overtook his senses. The next thing he heard was a sudden breath being drawn and let out in a tremendous scream as an explosion of raw power tore the entire top half off of the hospital.

When Ranma could see again, he was laying on a bed in a small room staring at a white ceiling. When he blinked and discovered that the white ceiling was still there, he sat up... or tried to, only to find himself incredibly weak and barely able to move. Looking around the room he was in, he found himself to be in a hospital room. At least that was what he assumed since he recognized some of the equipment that had been in his sisters room...

Thoughts of his sister brought a new attempt to get up which was only marginally more successful in that he managed to sit up. The increase in height brought his head high enough that he could see that there was another bed in his room. On that bed was the sleeping form of his sister, surrounded by the same sea of equipment as his was now surrounded with.

Ranma lay there for nearly an hour, just watching his sister sleep, and feeling his own strength beginning to slowly return before there was a knock at the door. Looking up, he saw Doctor Tofu standing there, smiling at him. "It's good to see you awake, Ranma. We thought you would be out for another few days at least..."

A loud grumble from Ranma's belly cut Doctor Tofu off. "But perhaps we should get you something to eat, especially considering how long it's been since you and Hikari were found."

"What do you mean found, Doc? Aren't we at the hospital still?" The confusion was clear on Ranma's face. This question brought a smile to Doctor Tofu's face.

"Look around, Ranma. Don't you recognize where you are?" Ranma just looked around the room and shrugged. "Isn't this the hospital?"

"Ranma, whatever you did at the hospital blew three whole floors off of it. It's now temporarily closed for repairs, and may have to be condemned. You and Hikari are at my clinic right now, where you have been for nearly a week. You are both under my care now. Good thing, too. They were about to put you in separate rooms since you had gone female in the explosion, and I'm fairly sure you would have razed what was left of it trying to find her."

Ranma was about to answer when a weak voice from the other side of the room spoke. "Rrrranma, wherrrre arrrre we? This isn't the hospital." Both sets of male eyes turned to Hikari's bed to see her sitting up on her own and looking somehow stronger.

Doctor Tofu crossed the room fairly quickly, and was soon checking over her vitals. As he did so, he spoke. "Hello, Hikari. My name is Doctor Tofu. For the moment we are in my clinic. But seeing how quickly you have bounced back, and how quickly Ranma bounces back, I'm expecting to be able to release the both of you tomorrow." Tofu then turned to Ranma with a smile. "Think you can avoid destroying my clinic in that time? Anyway, there is someone who wants to see you. May I let them in? And while I'm at it, I'll see about getting you both something to eat."

Ranma, not having much strength at the moment, only nodded. Tofu smiled then turned to the door and left the room. A few moments of quiet mumbling outside the room later, the door opened and revealed Akane and Ukyo both standing there looking a little concerned. They walked in and Ukyo closed the door behind them before turning to Ranma with a faint smile. "So, Ranma-honey, care to introduce us to your roommate?"

Ranma's smile was enough to almost brighten the room. "Akane, Ucchan, this is my sister, Hikari Saotome. Hi-chan, this is Akane Tendo, sister to both Nabiki and Kasumi. The other one is Ukyo Kuonji. She runs an okonomiyaki shop nearby. They are also both my fiances."

For a moment Hikari looked puzzled. "But Ranma, I thought you were only supposed to have one fiance. At least that's what Momma always said..."

Ranma was about to answer when Ukyo beat him to the punch. "That's normally true, but your Father isn't exactly the greatest when it comes to keeping his word. Right, Ranma-Honey?"

Ranma was about to answer when a small knock from the door cut in, and Doctor Tofu stuck his head into the room. "Ranma, I've got some food here. I know it's not up to the quantity or quality that you are used to, but it should be enough for everyone here to get some." With that, Tofu pushed in a large cart with several platers of food on it, then pushed it to between the two siblings. Tofu's only answer was a twin growl from both siblings' stomachs.

At this point Ranma noticed some of his strength had returned, so he sat up and reached over towards the cart, which was just out of his reach. Noticing this, Akane stepped forward and offered to help. Ranma's answering smile was all it took, and soon Akane was handing a full plate and a pair of chopsticks to him. A glance at his sister nearly caused him to drop said plate as she was standing on her own and filling a plate for herself. The part that really shocked him was when he noticed how much shorter she was than his own girl side. The growl of his stomach was enough to cut off further examinations, and soon, everyone had a plate and was eating. By the end of the meal, Ranma was feeling near his old strength, but very tired for some reason.

Soon, Ranma had drifted off into a deep sleep. Akane and Ukyo glanced at each other, then at Hikari, who was showing a yawn of her own. "Hikari, when the big lug over there wakes up, tell him we'll be back tomorrow to help him come home, ok?" Hikari's answering nod was soon followed by her following her brother into slumber and the fiance's letting themselves out.

-Later that night-

Hikari awoke to find that the room she was in was fairly dark, and seemed much emptier than she remembered. It also seemed quieter. Looking around, she soon found the reason, as all the funny beeping things that had been in the room was now gone, leaving only the two occupied beds and little else. A glance at the window told her it was dark outside. Seeing that made her eyes go wide in fear, but she soon remembered something... Her brother was here! Looking over at his bed, she saw it wasn't too far away, but her eyes fell on the dark space under his bed, where a small pair of scary eyes were staring back at her. Her shriek of terror instantly awoke her brother and caused him do jump out of the bed into a defensive stance.

After looking around and not seeing anything, Ranma started to relax. "Hi-chan, what's wrong? Why did you scream?" Seeing her staring at the space under his bed, Ranma got down and looked, only to get a face full of claw from a small purple paw. For a moment, Ranma was frozen in fear, but then something in him snapped. A moment later found Shampoo suspend from Ranma's grip by her throat and an inch from his face. He was staring back at her with red glowing eyes when he reached up with his other hand and was about to carry through with his earlier threat. All it took to stop him, though, was a small shaking hand on his own shoulder and a voice that stopped him. "Please, Rrranma, don't hurrrt the kitty?"

Unable to fight such a request from his own sister, he merely stared into Shampoo's eyes for a second, then growled out, "You werrre saved by my sisterrr, Shampoo. Neverrr forrrget that. Now get out." With that, Ranma walked over to the window and dumped Shampoo through it, then turned back to his sister. "Lets get back to sleep. We got a long day ahead of us tomorrow, so we should try to get some sleep..."

After they both lay back down to get some sleep, a quiet voice echoed through the room. "Rrranma, I'm scarrred... Can I sleep with you?"

Ranma's only answer was to scoot to the far edge of his bed and pat where he had been laying. A moment later, both Saotomes were sound asleep, the warmth and strength of one forcing the bad dreams of both to flee for the night.


End file.
